The further and continuing adventures of the girl who sat in the back of your homeroom, reading and daydreaming.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Mystery Gun

...Or not.

Everyone encounters different items in any hobby or line of work. Wide-ranging experts (Tam) are few and far between.

Sometimes even they have to stop and ponder. That's when it's better to be lucky than smart:

Over at Say Uncle, Unk's linked to a mystery gun. Tam was having one of those it's-right-on-the-tip-of-my-tongue moments, identifying the design antecedents of the gun; I took one look and muttered, "It's a Star, Model F, I have one a lot like it..."

Quick trip to the safe and I've actually got two; one's an FR, (which I suspect is the "mystery" model) and the other, older, is a plain F. Very nice little .22 target pistols from a decent Spanish gunmaker.

Interestingly, while the artwork on the box shows the FR's bell-shaped barrel housing, it omits the slide stop notch.

I'm not sure about Blue Book on these but I paid just over $100 for each.

You really think your Beeb reporter's going to draw suspicion on himself by showing a little gun knowledge? You get an automatic five years behind bars for having a handgun here - no trial beyond proof of having been in physical contact with it, and away you go.

"I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right; that they were a distinct race from me by their prejudices and superstitions."